Senqu Bridge

The Senqu Bridge, built by Webuild as leader of a joint venture with companies from Lesotho and South Africa, is one of the main works of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), the binational programme between Lesotho and South Africa that supports the country's energy and water transition. With an overall length of 825 meters and a central span of 100 meters, the bridge ensures continuity of the road artery connecting the mountainous communities of the northeast with the capital. 

The infrastructure plays an essential role for the region: it allows the creation of the future Polihali Dam reservoir – part of the LHWP – without interrupting the connections between the centers of Oxbow and Mokhotlong and the rest of the country, thus avoiding the isolation of entire mountain communities and safeguarding access to local markets, essential services, and agricultural activities. 

The Senqu Bridge is the first extradosed bridge ever built in Lesotho, a design solution chosen to guarantee stability and resistance to the strong winds from the Drakensberg Mountains. Its prestressed concrete deck and continuous 16-span structure, supported by piers ranging from 15 to 90 meters in height, allow the bridge to adapt the irregular morphology of the valley and to a highly complex environmental context.

Construction required a highly specialised site organisation: work platforms rising up to 88 meters, access roads carved into the rock, and temporary structures adapted daily to changing conditions.